For 16 years, Vicki Ranck has taught art to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at
Montgomery Central Middle School, and she relies on her experience as an Austin Peay
State University alumnus to motivate the young artists in her classroom.

We had an excellent art program and professors at our disposal at APSU, she said.
I tell (the students) my room is set up like a â€˜mini APSU in that there are centers
of study to explore.
For 16 years, Vicki Ranck has taught art to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at
Montgomery Central Middle School, and she relies on her experience as an Austin Peay
State University alumnus to motivate the young artists in her classroom.

“We had an excellent art program and professors at our disposal at APSU,” she said.
“I tell (the students) my room is set up like a ‘mini' APSU in that there are centers
of study to explore.”

Ranck's analogy of a “mini APSU” however extends beyond her classroom to encapsulate
the three campuses off Highway 49 that make up Montgomery Central Elementary, Middle
and High schools. Or rather, a “mini APSU art department” resides in those buildings
because Ranck is one of four APSU alumni teaching art at those schools.

Lauren Martin, at the elementary school, and Mike Andrews and Debbie Harrison, at
the high school, also graduated from APSU. The four teachers/artists don't often get
to see each other, but next month they'll get together at the Austin Peay Downtown
Gallery for a joint exhibition of their work. The show begins with an opening reception
on Thursday, July 1 and runs through July 31.

“It is hard for us to find the time to collaborate so this exhibit is a greatway for the four of us to work on a project together,” Harrison said. “I think it
is great.”

The four artists will present works in different mediums for the show. Ranck will
display her dark landscapes drawn with a roller ball pen on watercolor paper, and
Harrison will present her photography and painting.

Andrews will exhibit his sculptures, including new works that experiment with machine
parts and foundry patterns.

“I work with stone, clay, metal, wood and just about anything that interests me,”
he said. “The work that I appreciate the most is that of the modern artists of the
20th century — Brancusi, Noguchi and Chillida, my mentor Olen Bryant, as well as local
folk artists like Edmondson, Bagget and Wickham.”

Martin, who once attended both Montgomery Central Middle and High Schools and studied
under Ranck and Harrison, will display her pottery at the exhibition.

“A teacher once told me that the best tools are your own two hands,” she said. “Maybe
I knew this as a child, since I have been making pots from mud for as long as I can
remember.”

Last year, the APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts leased a building in
downtown Clarksville to provide gallery space for APSU alumni, such as these four
Montgomery Central teachers. The gallery, located at 116 Strawberry Alley in downtown
Clarksville, is open from noon to 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays. For more information
on this space or the exhibit, contact Gregg Schlanger at 931-221-7789 or schlangerg@apsu.edu.
-- Charles Booth